For the second time in two weeks, a Democratic presidential hopeful has waded into the Travis County district attorney’s race and backed candidate Jos Garza, who continues to pick up momentum from outside of Texas in his bid to unseat incumbent DA Margaret Moore.
The campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced an endorsement for Garza on Thursday, proclaiming in an email that Garza and another Texan they’re supporting, Harris County DA candidate Audia Jones, will end “mass incarceration, the failed war on drugs and the criminalization of poverty.”
The endorsement comes as Sanders, fresh off a win this week in the New Hampshire primary, opens five campaign offices in Texas, including in East Austin. Texans will soon see more of him through a $5.5 million ad campaign across Texas and other Super Tuesday states.
Sanders’ backing of Garza comes after U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts endorsed Garza on Jan. 28, referring to the former public defender and workers rights advocate as a “fighter that Travis County communities deserve.“
“Our movement to reimagine justice in Travis County is so grateful to have the support of Senators Sanders and Warren,” Garza said. “They know change comes from the grassroots. Those endorsements are a recognition of the thousands of people who have shown up, knocked on doors, and demanded change here in Travis County.”
Although the Warren endorsement came as a surprise to many people clued into local races, the Sanders announcement had long been rumored after a national political action committee affiliated with Sanders, Real Justice, began campaigning for Garza last summer. The PAC, whose aim is to replace incumbent prosecutors with candidates more focused on reforming criminal justice, has contributed more than $43,000 to Garza’s campaign.
The endorsement blunts momentum for Moore, who this week picked up an endorsement over Garza and a third candidate, Erin Martinson, from the American-Statesman.
Moore also prevailed this week in a federal class action lawsuit, which U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel dismissed, that involved eight women who alleged that their sexual assault complaints were mishandled. Moore was among several defendants in the suit, including her predecessor, former DA Rosemary Lehmberg, and current and former Austin Police Chiefs Brian Manley and Art Acevedo.
The Democratic nominee for DA will be decided in the March 3 primary unless a runoff is needed. That person will square off against Republican candidate Martin Harry, a local attorney who specializes in social security disability law, in November.
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